Them and Us

seven

Bob woke up to the sound of Christian snoring next door, and rolled out of his bed to tell him to keep it down. But when he arrived to his room, he saw how exhausted Christian was so he decided to leave him be for now. Although Bob mentally swore he'd duct tape his mouth shut next time. 

Bob then went to check on the others and saw that Faye and Christoph were in their own beds. He checked the watch he'd left on his bed side table and it read eight forty-five. As he knew there wasn't any food downstairs, he decided to get ready and head out to buy food. They didn't know what they were to expect but as the older person, Bob felt responsible for looking after the teens. If it were as simple as getting them food, he'd do it. 

He found Silas at the bottom of the stairs and patted his head. Silas followed him into the dining room as Bob wrote a note he'd be back soon. After he put on his shoes and grabbed his duffel bag, he opened the door but stopped as he noticed that Silas was still following him. He quickly fed him as he knew the pup hadn't eaten since the night before. Sighing, Bob walked back to the dining room and quickly added in the note Silas was tagging along. With that, he put on his coat and left. 

Since Bob didn't have the keys to Aberfaye's car, he walked the way to a nearest convenience store which was a twenty minute walk away. Bob talked to Silas about the dream he had last night on the way there. He didn't actually remember the dream but he made one up just so he could talk. 

Just as the store was in sight, Silas began to growl at nothing, which cut Bob off as he was just about to mention 'the best part'. 

Bob eyed Silas. "Rude."

Silas just kept growling which soon turned into loud barking. Bob soon became worried and began to regret bringing Silas along as he thought it was his fault for Silas' agitation. But as Bob looked up to see what the pup was barking at, his mouth instantly went dry and stopped dead in his tracks. 

A spine-chilling shriek rang in the air. 

Bob's instincts took over him as he grabbed Silas and sprinted behind the convenience store, hoping he wouldn't get caught. Silas had stopped barking but it hadn't stopped the pounding in Bob's head after he heard the noise. He rested his back against the wall and tightly shut his eyes.  

He couldn't get the image out of his head. It was like he was being forced to remember what he saw. The figure who made the noise was eerie, slender and rotten. It had skeleton-like features, where you could see bits of bone sticking out. But it had flesh and skin on it's head, almost like a human's.  

He didn't want to, but he began to cry at the memory from not long ago. Anyone who would have encountered a creature like so, would've been beyond terrified. Bob sat down hugging his legs close to his chest. His heart was beating so hard he was scared the creature would have heard it. Sweat was dripping all over his body and Silas tried to comfort him by licking it off. 

All Bob could do was cling on to Silas and wait for the creature to leave. He held his breath for as long as he could and waited thirty minutes before getting up. He knew the thing was gone after ten minutes but he opted to play it safe. 

He entered the store through the back door, grabbed the food and drinks he needed and made his way back. He walked through the tall grass, afraid of getting caught, shaking in every step. 

Aberfaye laid on the couch, observing Christoph trying to fix the television. Christian was still dozing off upstairs, his snores still audible.  

"Why isn't the TV working? Literally everything else works." Christoph complained. They were currently banging on the back of the 2010's Samsung TV in the living room.